Recruiters Talk Value of MBA, Which B-Schools They Recruit F

When recruiting MBAs, Rachel Braun Scherl, the president of Semprae Laboratories (which makes the feminine arousal oil Zestra) seems to have very strong opinions about the types of MBAs that come out of certain b-schools. Northwestern MBAs are typically this, Wharton MBAs are very much that, HBS grads are great because…and so forth. But Stanford MBAs, they’re just simply the best. See, Scherl went to Stanford, loved Stanford, loves Stanford, is predisposed to other people who went to Stanford. She’s sorry that’s the way it is, but that’s the way it is!

Business Insider asked some recruiters for their thoughts on the value of an MBA and the schools they recruit at. The hiring managers are from a variety of different companies from different industries. Here are the best bits.

McKesson Corporation’s campus program manager of talent acquisition Ryann K. Cheung

Newly minted MBAs bring vitality and fresh eyes to a company, says Cheung. They come armed with the most up-to-date research and a strong baseline of business skills. These are attractive things to companies.

The target programs for this healthcare IT firm are a mix of six or seven geographically diverse schools with strong healthcare presence, good corporate strategy and business development and a varied student body.

Bain & Company’s head of global recruiting Mark Howorth

As a consulting firm, Bain likes its new hires to possess a broad palette of skills and knowledge in finance, marketing, strategy. He thinks the top MBA programs do this quite well.

Go to where the talent is, says Howorth. And talent can be found anywhere—It just happens that the top MBA programs offer the best shot at finding the biggest concentration of top candidates. It’s a “natural resource allocation.”

Howarth said the GMAT isn’t a “strict screen,” but it’s a “good indicator” of potential. If you scored below a 650, your chances of getting an interview at Bain, not so good.  

Of Bain’s consulting hires, typically 70 to 80 percent have an MBA.

Quaker Bioventures’ partner Adele Oliva

Historically, this venture capital firm has been satisfied with the caliber of MBAs out of: Cornell, Wharton, Stanford and St. Joseph’s part-time MBA program

Citigroup’s head of graduate recruitment Eileen Stephan

The MBA, she said, is like a deep well that you continue to draw from years and years down the career road.

Accenture’s senior director of global recruitment John Campagnino

An MBA doesn’t have as much value at Accenture if you’re a seasoned professional, said Campagnino. [Unless career changer or Executive MBA]

Accenture hires “a large percentage” of its management consulting capability from four main schools: Kellogg, Darden, Duke, Cornell. And it recruits at about ten other schools.

Hilton Worldwide’s VP of talent acquisition Peggy Tayloe

IBM specifically wants MBAs for what they learn at b-school: business intelligence, business analytics and optimization, enterprise resource planning, consulting and leadership development. And it’s not that the MBA-less can’t develop, say, analytical problem-solving skills, it’s just that business schools are known to develop that mode of thinking that IBM values, said Tayloe.

GE Corporate’s director of commercial development programs Erin Dillard

Outside GE’s usual suspects of top 20 or so schools, UT-Austin’s McCombs MBAs have proven very impressive.

[Business Insider]

Related:

The MBA Hiring Climate According to Recruiters

What Do Bain Recruiters Look For? What Are the Red Flags?

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